Ooredoo has already broken the one million customer milestone record in its newest market of Myanmar, less than three weeks after going live with its services.

Sheikh Abdullah Bin Mohammed Bin Saud Al Thani, chairman, Ooredoo Group, revealed the significant achievement in a special ceremony in the capital Nay Pyi Taw, where he thanked the people of Myanmar for their warm welcome, and stressed the company’s commitment to serving the country.

Since the launch of Ooredoo in Myanmar, the company has seen unprecedented demand for its mobile phone and internet services, with people queuing overnight to purchase a low-cost Ooredoo SIM. The team are striving to deliver up to customers’ expectations, offering crystal clear voice services and fast Internet.

The event offered thanks to customers, staff and partners who have made this achievement possible and the Chairman challenged his team to go further in striving to improve service for customers. It was attended by a number of VIP guests, including Sheikh Abdullah; U Myat Hein, union minister of communications and information technology; Jaber Ali Al Dosari, ambassador to Myanmar and Thailand; Aziz Al-Uthman Fakhroo, Ooredoo Group board member and chairman, Ooredoo Myanmar; Dr Nasser Marafih, group CEO, Ooredoo; U Than Htun Aung, director, posts and telecommunications department; and Ross Cormack, CEO, Ooredoo Myanmar.

“Mobile communication enriches people’s lives. It connects job-seekers with new opportunities, unites families who are separated by geography, enables teachers to access learning resources, farmers to track market demand, and entrepreneurs to connect with new suppliers, which is why we have continuously pushed to enable people’s access to these life chances. I am humbled by the warm welcome we have received from the people of Myanmar, and by their dedication to improving their lives with technology. We are committed to continuously improving our service so we can meet our promise of giving people better life chances,” said Sheikh Abdullah.

Ooredoo has invested and installed the world’s first next-generation purely UMTS900 network throughout Myanmar, which offers customers in Myanmar a world-class 3G service with crystal clear voice calls and fast internet, as well as providing a solid foundation for a future move into 4G services.

U Myat Hein said, “Over the past few years, the union government and ministry of communications and information technology have worked hard to lay the foundations for the creation of a competitive telecommunications landscape that truly serves our people and we are closer than ever to achieving this.”

Aziz Al-Uthman Fakhroo, Ooredoo Group board member and chairman, Ooredoo Myanmar said: “This has been a challenging greenfield launch, where we have needed to counter a number of logistical and technological challenges to deliver a world-class network for the people. We have overcome these challenges with the help of local partners and communities, and have become the first international communications company to operate in Myanmar. We will continue to strive to offer the very best services for our customers.”

Speaking of the challenges faced during the development stage, Ross Cormack, CEO Ooredoo Myanmar, praised the 1,000 employees of the Ooredoo Myanmar team, and stated that – in keeping with the company’s tradition of hiring local talent – 800 of these team members are Myanmar people.

Alongside traditional sales and services jobs, which cover 6,500 dealers at launch and 30,000 points of sale for top-ups, the company estimate through the distribution network alone Ooredoo has already supported approximately 50,000 new jobs for the people of Myanmar.

“The response to our launch has been inspiring! This wonderful nation’s pent-up demand for mobile communication services has surpassed even our expectations, and as our reach expands across the country these opportunities will increase. This growth will enable more people to experience our life-enriching services and see the life changing opportunities technology can bring,” added Cormack.

At the close of the ceremony, Ooredoo highlighted that the network will rapidly extend to include 25 million people by the end of 2014, as the company brings the benefits of connectivity to the population as fast as is possible.

Ooredoo has currently launched in Myanmar’s three major cities and surrounding regions, initially covering 68 cities and towns and 7.8 million people. The network will rapidly extend beyond these three main cities to include 25 million people by the end of the year, as the company brings the benefits of connectivity to as many people as possible.